Samizdata.netA blog for people with a critically rational individualist perspective. We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future.Third Falcon 1 test launch draws near- (Found July 2, 2008 ) SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket has been test fired at Kwajalein as the last step in preparation for a July launch. This will be the first flight of the new regen engine which does not require an ablative coating on the nozzle. It is also the same technology as the engines for the larger Falcon-9 slated for launch at Cape Canaveral next year. Protestations to the contrary, I would consider this to still be a developmental...http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/07/third_falcon_1.html Heller and no-knock raids- (Found July 2, 2008 ) So the Supreme Court's opinion in Heller really has me wondering. Will this have any effect on the practice of so many police departments, especially big city ones with bright shiny SWAT teams, to use middle of the night no-knock raids when a less dramatic approach might have been a better choice Will it encourage better investigations of exactly who's home they are breaking into before they begin battering down doors I suspect but haven't...http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/heller_and_nokn.html David Davis says that the CCTV cameras are not working well enough- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Much has been said about David Davis's motives for doing what he's doing. He is vain. He is mad. He is bored. My opinion He is a politician. Politicians are vain, often mad. Politics is mostly very boring. I say: Who cares what Davis's reasons are for saying what he is saying, and doing what he is doing What matters is what messages he is sending out and what impact, if any, they will have....http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/david_davis_say.html Bob Barr vs the Surveillence State- (Found July 2, 2008 ) I am watching a number of videos in which our candidate Bob Barr has been interviewed and he sounds pretty good. You may enjoy this one in which he talks extensively about Statist spying and the way in which the government is destroying the privacy of the individual....http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/bob_barr_vs_the.html Collectivism triumphing in Europe and the United States- (Found July 2, 2008 ) I notice that the this week's Economist is taking the same basic line as its sister publication the Financial Times did the Saturday after the Irish 'no' vote, that the EU can carry on without the text that was voted down. And, from their own stand point, both publications may well be correct. It would be nice for them if the European Union had total power (which the 'Treaty of Lisbon' would have given it...http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/the_triumph_of.html 32- (Found July 2, 2008 ) No, it is not a streamlined version of the answer to life, the universe and everything. It is the maximum number of aspirin in a bottle available at the local Clear Pharmacy. According to the Pharmacist on duty, that is the largest number sellable without a prescription. I am sure I looked perplexed with my jaw hanging open during the few speechless moments before I came out with the only answer I could think of:...http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/32.html A fine tournament- (Found July 2, 2008 ) The odd dull, negative game apart, I thought the European Championship football tournament, held this year in Austria and Switzerland, has been excellent with plenty of attacking flair to savour. For me, the highlights have been the Holland-Italy match (the Dutch won it decisively); the Russia-Holland game (the Russians turned over the Dutch in superb style) and the final, won by the wonderful Spanish side, which has waited a long time for this moment. It...http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/a_fine_tourname.html Samizdata quote of the day- (Found July 2, 2008 ) "I don't want to remake America. I'm an immigrant, and one reason I came here is because most of the rest of the Western world remade itself along the lines Sen. Obama has in mind. This is pretty much the end of the line for me. If he remakes America, there's nowhere for me to go although presumably once he's lowered sea levels around the planet there should be a few new atolls popping...http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/samizdata_quote_369.html More nonsense from the medical mafia- (Found July 2, 2008 ) Just to avoid any possible confusion, I should probably point out here that the Samizdata Illuminatus is a collective pseudonym used when any of the regular writers of this site wants to publish something anonymously. The author of this post is actually in London, not Massachusetts Dale posted below about the idiotic rules he encountered when attempting to buy asprin in (I presume) Northern Ireland. I cannot answer the question as to whether the situation...http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/more_nonsense_f.html Putting the 'con' in consultation- (Found July 2, 2008 ) You may not know that a Home Office minister is touring the UK holding 'consultation' meetings about the National Identity Scheme, and that it is more nonsensical than even the average government consultation exercise. She is, however, and nothing will be allowed to stand in her way. 3 members of NO2ID were arrested this morning for "suspected breach of the peace" while protesting outside the venue of the Edinburgh consultation exercise. Making ministers look bad...http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/putting_the_con.html |